January 8, 2022
- Adoption of Agenda
The agenda was adopted. - Presentation: Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) – Asbestos Research
Paul Demers, Director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) advised that the OCRC has a broad research program that looks at the causes of cancers, systems of surveillance of cancers, other occupational diseases and carcinogens as well as working on prevention-related research. P. Demers stated that asbestos and asbestos-related diseases are still a present and current concern, despite regulations regarding its use and its eventual ban as Canada was the largest producer and user of asbestos.
P. Demers announced that the Occupational Disease Surveillance Program (ODSP) has been invaluable in tracking the continuing impact of occupational exposures, something which is a work in progress across Canada. He emphasized the importance of tracking mesothelioma across jurisdictions as the statistics indicate that the incidence of diagnosis of mesothelioma is rising at a higher rate than the population growth rate, although it appears to be beginning to level off overall. P. Demers provided information regarding the types of mesothelioma (plural and peritoneal) by gender and age in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and nationally, which are both rising after a brief leveling off period. He indicated that there has been a dramatic change over the past ten (10) years whereby people are being diagnosed at an older age, whether it be from decreased levels of exposure, or exposure from earlier in their life. He advised that mesothelioma is recognized as being hard to treat with a poor survival rate, especially for those diagnosed at advanced ages, which is consistent with data from other jurisdictions. He explained that the OCRC is currently reviewing geographic locations where there was high production or usage of asbestos and comparing those with the areas of high incidence of mesothelioma diagnosis, with a view to identifying the potential sources of exposure
He pointed out that Ontario is the only jurisdiction in Canada that, as of 1986, has required employers to register their employees in an Asbestos Worker Registry (AWR), whereby workers performing high- and moderate-risk activities with asbestos containing materials (ACM) are registered and then advised if they are exposed to the equivalent of one (1) year’s worth of exposure in order to prompt discussions with their general practitioner. Using the AWR, approximately 26,000 workers have been linked to their health records as a proactive measure of health surveillance. With this linked data, P. Demers revealed that they have been successful in identifying groups of people at increased risk of cancers and non-cancer lung diseases associated with asbestos. He highlighted that these results indicate an increased risk in mesothelioma, asbestosis and pulmonary fibrosis in both men and women in the AWR versus the general population of Ontario. Additionally, P. Demers pointed out that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), often largely attributed to smoking, also has a significantly increased risk in these groups even compared to lung cancer.
P. Demers reviewed information regarding the risk rates of the various diseases in the construction and manufacturing industries, as well as the correlation between the risk and the number of hours of exposure. This information revealed an increased risk at longer exposures for mesothelioma and asbestosis.
P. Demers discussed the Occupational Disease Surveillance System (ODSS) which allows the OCRC to study other workplace hazards by linking the Tumour Registry, ambulatory care, hospital discharge, and physician billing records with 2.4 million former injured workers in Ontario across different industries and occupations across the province. This data pointed out several trades within the construction industry as well as other industry sectors and other occupations with inherently higher risks of asbestos-related diseases. P. Demers noted that one unexpected group with a higher than average risk was Education & related services, which includes janitorial services and other maintenance workers in campuses where asbestos removal or remediation has occurred while the facility remained at least partially open.
According to the CAREX Canada website, P. Demers revealed that the number of workers regularly exposed to asbestos was increased to 235,000 in 2016, which may be an underestimation. He emphasized that the definition of exposure plays a factor in this data as well as noting that even low or occasional exposure can increase risk over time, specifically of mesothelioma.
P. Demers called attention to a recent report, “Asbestos Management in Canada: Assessing the Need for a National Standard” which focuses on examining best practices of asbestos management, identifying gaps and exploring the need for a national standard. He highlighted the key gaps and challenges, including multiple legislative and regulatory frameworks, the identification of asbestos and ACM, the assessment and categorization of risk, control of risk, training and determination of competencies, the management and disposal of asbestos waste and asbestos, and ACM in the residential and commercial sectors. As an example of the various frameworks, P. Demers noted that there are 71 different pieces of legislation in four (4) generalized areas including Occupational Health and Safety, Public Health, Environmental and other sectors that all have an impact on asbestos management. P. Demers emphasized that this is compounded by various jurisdictional and organization specific rules, regulations, testing requirements, asbestos inventories and even definitions of ACM, certification and competency requirements that vary across the country.
P. Demers noted that the report concludes that a national asbestos management standard, or suite of standards, is required to address inconsistencies, establish minimum competency levels and support compliance efforts. He concluded by advancing that the AWR should be enhanced and expanded to include a broader range of types of activities/industries that require reporting. Additionally, he suggested that an expansion of lung cancer screening should be supported to include screening for asbestos exposure as well as smoking because the risk is much higher when those hazards are combined. P. Demers also advised that the creation of a Canadian asbestos management standard reflecting the best possible practices and exploration of ways to proactively remove asbestos are among the best ways to advance prevention of asbestos-related diseases.
The Committee welcomed the presentation as well as the updated information in relation to the prevalence of asbestos as a current concern in Canada. The Committee noted that, in Ontario, there are claims for asbestosis that are rejected whereas claims for mesothelioma are allowed. The Committee also questioned whether federal employees working in federal workplaces are listed in the AWR, however P. Demers advised would have to look closer at the data to see if that information is identified. A. Peart pointed out that there is an issue in ongoing discussions with employers related to some hazards as the information provided to bargaining agents is related solely to compensable diseases and the difficulty in accessing diagnosis information and statistics. P. Demers acknowledged that compensation data frequently does not capture the full picture and indicated that this information is generally not relied upon to assess risk or likelihood of exposure. Therefore, P. Demers stated that they have been working with the provinces and federal Labour Program to use their data more effectively, however, the issue that subsequently arises is the sample size. To obtain statistically relevant results, the sample size needs to be sufficiently large. A. Peart followed up with a question related to compensation in situations where an employee was exposed to a hazard in several jurisdictions whereby each jurisdiction requires substantiated evidence that the cause of the disease was within their jurisdiction prior to compensation. P. Demers commented that moving towards a national approach to workplace health and safety should consider how to address such situations. - Update from the Sub-Committees:
- OHS Training/Learning Sub-Committee
Nil. - Harassment and Violence Prevention Tools Working Group (A. Peart)
Nil. - Legalization of Cannabis Sub-Committee (C. Fraser)
The Executive Committee approved the Joint Employment and Equity Committee (JEEC) and SWOHS recommendation that the joint sub-committee be stood down and reformed should the need arise in the future.
- OHS Training/Learning Sub-Committee
- Standing Items:
- Asbestos
As a result of today’s presentation, the Committee will expand on this topic for next meeting to discuss how the Committee can move forward to gather similar data points for the federal public service. F. Murphy indicated that there are still many federal workplaces with asbestos and that the community will be dealing with the fallout from working with asbestos for a long time.
It was noted that the cases where a diagnosis of asbestosis is not being recognized as a workplace injury is very concerning for the Committee. As a result, Committee members suggested determining any outstanding or common issues that arise in relation to asbestos-related diseases in the workplace. - Harassment
C. Seeton advised the Sub-Committee is moving forward with the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) to host an event to demystify the Bill C65 investigations in the early spring of 2022. The intent is to create opportunities to promote and showcase the tools that have been and are being developed. C. Zovatto mentioned that the Occupational Health and Safety Community of Practice meetings have been talking about these tools and that it has been flagged with the Centre of Expertise on Mental Health to include some of these elements when planning to increase occupancy.
F. Murphy inquired about Health Canada’s program to assist departments with the process as well as providing assistance in finding investigators and/or Designated Recipients (DR). N. Porteous confirmed that the team has been in touch with the Sub-Committee about their tools and services, including discussions with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) regarding their National Master Standing Offer (NMSO), but would need to clarify the scope of the DR service being offered. Y. Fournier inquired about the size of the small roster and their workload. N. Porteous indicated that she would follow up secretarially with the requested information.
The Committee discussed the appropriateness of former employees of the Human Resources section of the department subsequently being identified as an investigator. The Committee opined that the policy committee should be fully aware of any such prior affiliations as part of the investigator’s background when developing their list of investigators, which could then be discussed as part of the process. M. Gosselin clarified that there are circumstances where it could be an asset as well as indicating that such a background should not be a barrier for potential investigators. - Legionella
C. Truax noted that as the systems have transitioned to heating, the risk of Legionella spreading is now reduced. It was mentioned that the Legionella management program has continued irrespective of the occupancy rates of the buildings.
- Asbestos
- Round table:
F. Murphy noted that this is his last SWOHS meeting before his retirement and expressed his gratitude for all of the work of the Committee over the years. Several of the members of the Committee also thanked F. Murphy for his contributions while serving on the Committee.
M. Gosselin proposed that Psychological Safety be added as a standing item to the agenda. He remarked that there is a lot of work being done in the Federal Public Service on mental health, well-being, wellness and other aspects of psychological safety. He asserted that SWOHS could be the logical place to bring the initiatives together, review them to provide with the Labour Code, bargaining agent and employer perspective as well as improving the linkages between the products being developed with the hazard prevention methodology. C. Fraser indicated that it would also be beneficial for SWOHS to issue communiqués specifying where employees and members can turn for information. - Next Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for January 20, 2022.